LAS Academic Programs
The School of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Columbia offers a wide variety of majors, minors, and academic programs that develop marketable skills, lead to professional certifications, and/or enrich specialized skills in other disciplines.
Our Undergraduate Programs of Study
(Click here to view our graduate programs)
BACHELOR OF ARTS in ASL-English Interpretation
This four-year major is designed for students who want to pursue careers as interpreters. The core curriculum provides a coherent plan of
study through courses in American Sign Language, deaf
culture, linguistics, theory and skills, multicultural issues, and a two-semester interpreting practicum.
MINOR in American Sign Language Studies
Students majoring in other fields will find that the development
of American Sign Language skills and the ability to
communicate with deaf people can significantly increase their
marketability and career options upon graduation.
BACHELOR OF ARTS in Early Childhood Education
Students enrolled in the Teacher Certification concentration
earn an IL Type 04 Certificate, which enables them to teach
children, birth through the third grade. Those in the Center
Director concentration earn a Level II Illinois Director
Credential, which prepares them for working with children,
birth through age 12, in non-school settings.
MINOR in Child and Adolescent Education through the
Arts and Media (Early Childhood Education Program)
This minor prepares students to work with children as teaching artists or media consultants in a range of settings, or more thoughtfully consider career options and graduate programs in education and related fields such as counseling/art therapy or social work.
BACHELOR OF ARTS in Poetry (English Department)
The English Department’s major in Poetry helps students
discover their own voices as poets and acquire the knowledge
and craft necessary to write and publish poetry of power and
sophistication. Students acquire the skills in editing, critical
writing, and professional writing necessary to find employment
upon graduation. They also are prepared for entry into distinguished
MFA programs such as those at Brown University,
Bard College, and the University of Iowa.
MINOR in Poetry (English Department)
A minor in Poetry may be taken by a student who is majoring
in another area at the college. Students pursuing the minor
will have all the benefits available to Poetry majors. This
includes instruction from our resident and visiting instructors,
the annual poetry reading series, Columbia Poetry Review, the
Eileen Lannan Contest, and other special programs.
MINOR in Literature (English Department)
The minor in Literature offers a flexible course of study that students can tailor to meet their specific needs and interests. Students from Film and Video, for example, might choose courses such as Literature on Film, Movies and Myth: The Goddess, and Topics in Literature:
Spike Lee and August Wilson. Fiction Writing students might
select courses such as the English Authors, American
Authors, or World Literature sequences complemented by
courses on various periods in the American or British Novel.
MINOR in Professional Writing (English Department)
The Professional Writing program allows students to become
communication specialists. Students learn varied and creative approaches to writing portfolios, company reports, grant proposals, profiles, speeches, and résumés. Students acquire skills that relate to writing for the arts and new media, as well as for the corporate and not-for-profit sectors of society.
MAJOR in Creative Non-Fiction (English Department)
In the Creative Non-Fiction courses students learn to employ the elements of fiction writing in non-fiction settings in order to
express their personal as well as social, ethical, and political
ideas. Students develop skills that enable them to write from a personal ethos and with an authentic voice and read from the many subgenres of creative nonfiction: personal essays, memoirs, travelogues, political arguments, and cultural critiques.
ESL PROGRAM (English Department)
The English as a Second Language (ESL) program offers
specialized sections of college-level writing, reading, and
public speaking courses to students with home/heritage languages other than English. Infused with arts, media, and community, the Summer Intensive English Language Institute (SIELI) is offered as a non-credit ESL program designed for students with high-intermediate to advanced levels of proficiency in English who want to develop their language and intercultural skills for academic and professional purposes.
BACHELOR OF ARTS in Cultural Studies (Department of Humanities, History, and Social Sciences)
Cultural Studies at Columbia College explores culture in its
richly varied forms and processes from an interdisciplinary
perspective. The program seeks to help students understand
aesthetic, political, social, and economic relationships
between cultural production and reception. It also considers
the civic dimension of cultural practice by viewing these practices
from standpoints of ethics and social justice. And finally,
it strongly emphasizes the active involvement of all forms of
cultural knowledge and social action in the everyday life of
local and global communities.
MINOR in Hispanic/Latino Studies (Department of Humanities, History, and Social Sciences)
This minor offers courses in the history and culture of Hispanic/Latin American people through the interdisciplinary study of language, literature, art (visual and performance), and social institutions, noting the significance of their contributions to American society.
MINOR in Women and Gender Studies (Department of Humanities, History, and Social Sciences)
This minor is designed to give students an opportunity to explore issues of gender and sexuality in an interdisciplinary yet cohesive way. Students will explore feminist theory and will engage in a stimulating debate on the role of gender and sexuality in society from a variety of perspectives.
Minor in Black World Studies (Department of Humanities, History, and Socieal Sciences)
This minor offers students contextual depth in the social, cultural, historical, and political aspects of the varied peoples of the black world. With a Black World Studies minor, students have a chance to develop and demonstrate their interest in the history, culture and arts of people of African descent and other black people all over the world. With a final workshop on community activism, this minor sets itself apart from other programs that offer majors and minors in Black Studies. Columbia College's approach to Black World Studies is cutting edge and ensures that students whose art and work touches on aspects of the black world will be better equipped to contextualize their works so that they will be substantive, complex and accessible.
MINOR in Environmental Science (Department of Science and Mathematics)
Students use concepts and information from the natural sciences—ecology, biology, chemistry, and geology—and also from the social sciences—economics, politics, and ethics—to understand how the earth works; how we are affecting the earth’s life-support systems; and how to deal with the environmental problems our society faces. All students complete a core course in Environmental Science and then choose a discipline within the Environmental Studies program they wish to pursue. Students also work with involved factulty members to complete an independent study project tailored to complement their research interests.